Rochester Region Federal Funds Dashboard

Federal COVID-19 pandemic-response packages have provided unprecedented aid to state and local governments, including $800 billion that can be used flexibly to promote an inclusive recovery. These resources create an unparalleled opportunity for advocates and local decision-makers to ensure federal funds reach communities that need them most, close equity gaps exacerbated by the pandemic, and address the root causes of inequities. To take advantage of this opportunity, local leaders need timely data and evidence to ensure funds are used effectively and equitably.

This dashboard tracks the federal recovery funds flowing into the City of Rochester and Monroe County that can be used for inclusive recovery efforts. The dashboard primarily tracks appropriations, or how much funding the federal government has committed to provide local jurisdictions. For a few select programs where information is available, the dashboard also explores spending by zip code.

Total Funding by Policy Area

Overall, 286M of funds have been allocated to the city of Rochester and Monroe County, and 8% have been reported as spent. By category, most of the funds have been allocated to Community and Economic Development, Infrastructure, and Housing, while the least have been allocated to Operations, Public Safety, and Social Services:

Allocated

Spent

How Much is Being Spent on an Inclusive Recovery?

Broadly, there are five building blocks of an inclusive recovery:

1. Create jobs for residents hardest hit by the pandemic or who face the greatest barriers to employment
2. Connect residents to jobs and economic opportunities, including through workforce development, child care, transportation, or broadband
3. Reinvest in disinvested communities and address long-standing disparities in access to education, capital, economic opportunities, and climate resilience
4. Stabilize housing and expand affordable housingoptions for low-income households and housing-insecure renters
5. Create opportunities for low-wealth households to build wealth.

In the Rochester region, 39% of the funding has been allocated towards these strategies that promote inclusive recovery and equitable growth:

Funding by Rochester Area Community Foundation Priorities

The Rochester Area Community Foundation’s key priorities for investment in the region include closing the academic achievement and opportunity gap, fostering racial and ethnic understanding and equity, partnering against poverty, supporting arts and culture, preserving historic assets, advancing environmental justice and sustainability, and promoting successful aging. Overall, 43% of the Federal funding has been allocated towards these priority areas:

Explore All Programs Funded

Federal Recovery Funds

Arranged from largest to smallest program allocation

¹ Darker colors indicate higher values while lighter colors correspond to lower values.

About the Dashboard

This dashboard was created by the Urban Institute in partnership with and support from The Rochester Area Community Foundation (RACF) to visualize Monroe County and the City of Rochester’s ARPA spending by policy category, the five building blocks of inclusive recovery, and RACF’s investment priorities. By tracking recovery funding expenditures, this dashboard allows us to monitor public spending by the categories most critical in supporting an inclusive recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

For more information about the dashboard, please contact Meg Norris (The Rochester Area community Foundation) or Christina Stacy (Urban Institute).

Click For Glossary of Terms

The code used to create this dashboard can be found on GitHub